The present invention relates to a data processing architecture which has a plurality of execution modes changeable according to the operator, and in particular, to a data processing method and a data processing system in which the execution modes are configured in a hierarchic structure.
In the conventional system in which the execution modes are configured in a hierarchic structure, for example, in a system discussed in a reference "Screen Editor for General-Purpose Character Display" described by Tetsuhiko Tabata and Noriko Sugiyama in the Information Processing, vol. 25, No. 8, pp. 813-819 (1984), a mode change is basically achieved by executing a command which changes the active mode to another mode which is one level higher or lower than the active mode. Consequently, to change the active mode to a mode other than said another mode, the command must be repeatedly entered and executed, which leads to deterioration of operability and operation efficiency. For each mode, even if a command changing the present mode to any other possible mode is provided to overcome the difficulty, an excessive number of commands are required, which causes another problem in that the operator load to memorize such commands is increased.